O Clavis David

 The power of Christ, and therefore, the definitive deliverance of the People of God from the power of the Evil One becomes more evident in the antiphon O Clavis. Christ, who identifies himself as the First and the Last, the One who lives, and the one who holds the keys of death and the nether world, speaks in Revelation 3:7 of himself as the Key of David the holy and the true One, who wields David’s key, who opens and no one can shut, who shuts and no one can open. In the Advent mystery, Christ comes as the undisputed ruler of heaven and earth and the one who has given the power of the keys to Peter. As we read in Matthew16:18-19: You are Peter, and upon this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of the nether world shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. Whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. We pray that the Lord come (veni) and lead out of captivity those who are bound in prison and those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death.